New ‘Percy Jackson’ International Trailer

This summer we got our first look at the teaser trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief. It’s based on the first of a series of books by author Rick Riordan, about a teenage boy named Percy (being played by Logan Lerman) who discovers he is actually the son of the god Poseidon. Percy then sets out on a quest to stop a war between the gods.

A few months ago we got another look at Percy Jackson with the first official trailer, further solidifying early claims that the film bears more than passing resemblance to the Harry Potter franchise. And last month we got a look at the first international trailer, which showed off some of the special effects and magical elements of the story.

Now another new international trailer for Percy Jackson has been released and we have it here for your viewing pleasure. If you saw the first international trailer, you’ll probably recognize a lot of the footage in this one (read: it’s almost the same), but if you look close enough there’s some new stuff in there. The additions include seeing Sean Bean as the god Zeus; Pierce Brosnan as the Centaur, Chiron (that’s half-man-half-horse to the layman :P ); and an extended look at the impressive water effect which appears near the end of the trailer.

When I first heard of this project and watched the first teaser, I saw it as nothing more than a Harry Potter knock-off (it has the same director as the first two HP movies, Chris Columbus – coincidence?). However, there more I’ve seen of the film, the better it’s looked to me, and I can kind of forgive the similarities to Harry Potter in lieu of what it has to offer.

What makes me look forward to the project more than anything, though, is the impressive cast that’s been assembled, particularly the ones playing the various gods: Pierce Brosnan is Chiron, Uma Thurman is Madusa, Sean Bean is Zeus, Kevin McKidd is Poseidon, Rosario Dawson is Persephone, Serinda Swan is Aphrodite, Erica Cerra is Hera, Luke Camilleri is Dionysus, Dylan Neal is Hermes and Melina Kanakaredes is Athena… you had me at Bean, Thurman and Brosnan!

Pierce Brosnan as Chiron

What’s been stuck in my mind about Percy Jackson is the fact that it’s an epic adventure type movie much like Clash of the Titans. What’s the problem with that? Well, they both feature the legendary Greek gods, and they both come out quite close to each other (Percy Jackson in Ferbuary, and Titans in March). I realize Clash of the Titans is aiming for a slightly higher age of audience, but I fear general audiences will have seen Percy Jackson first and not bother with Titans because they’ll see it as ‘just another Greek god flick.’ It would be a shame if that happened, since the second trailer for Clash of the Titans makes it look 100x times better.

What do you think of the latest Percy Jackson trailer? Looking forward to this project or does it just look like a Harry Potter wannabe to you? Do you think both this and Clash of the Titans being about the Greek gods will make audiences pick one over the other?